Read about the other titles on the list.Under the Volcano
by Malcolm Lowry
Anthony Powell, describing the excitement and terror of the Blitz, once expressed a preference for difficult or “dull books”, for instance a history of the Druids, to calm the nerves. Lowry, contemporary with Powell, is anything but dull, but his semi-autobiographical novel is unquestionably difficult. Lowry tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British consul in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac on the Day of the Dead, 2 November 1938. After many rejections, and a narrow escape from a fire, it is now recognised as a 20th-century classic
Under the Volcano is among Iain Sinclair's six top books about dark journeys and Iain Gately's five best books on the pleasures and hazards of drink.
--Marshal Zeringue
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